Tobacco holder and cutter



March 4, i924. 1,485,399

F. A. H. LONGWORTH TOBACCO HOLDER AND CUTTER Filed Aug. 25. 1922 5;-i- FELL;

Jij/ I 2% Patented Mar. 4, 1924.

j UNITED era-res:

rnEDEnroK n. H; LONGWORTH, or oaon'ro, onraaro, CANADA. j

' ToBnooo nctnna AND CUTTER.

Applicationlfiled August'25, 1922. semi No. 584,319.

To all whom it may concern 1' Be it known that I, FREDERICK A. H. LONGWORTH, a subject'of the KingofGreat Britain, residing at Toronto,- in the county of York, Province of Ontario, Canada, have invented certain new-and useful Improvements in Tobacco Holders and Cutters, of which the following is "a specification.

This invention relates to tobacco cutters and particularly to that type of'device used for carrying and cutting arplug of tobacco and my object is to provride'a device of .this character which-will be efficient, cheap to manufacture, and yet durable Ahfurther object is toprovide the cutting blade with a handle adapted to be also used as a cover for the container.

I attain my objects by means of the constructions hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is an elevation of my device;

Fig. 2 a cross section of the same; and

Fig. 3 is a plan view of Fig. 1.

In the drawings like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures.

The open-mouthed container 1 is adapted to hold a plug of tobacco, and one side thereof is formed with an offset part 2 in which is longitudinally journalled the feed screw 3 having a cutting blade 4 carried at its upper end, as hereinafter described, to co-operate with the upper edge of the container to form a shear. An important feature of my invention is the location of the journal of the cutting blade at the side of the container and centrally relative to the ends of the latter.

Referring to Fig. 3, it will be noted that the cutting blade 4 is provided with a convex knife edge 7. This knife edge is formed with two substantially straight edges, lying at an angle to one another, the straight edge adajcent the fulcrum being of sufiicient length to cut the width of the tobacco plug and the other edge being adapted to cut the corners of the plug. This arrangement provides an angular projection 8 on the cutting blade which readily enters the side of the plug. It is also evident that the cutting,

edges of the angular lmife are so disposed relative to the plug that they start their cutting action at an eifective shearing angle to the side of the plug.

The free end of the cutting blade 4 is provided with a'handle 9 which is adapted to be also used as a 'cover for the container. handle is pivoted at 10 on the cutting blade and is formed with sides and an end 11 and 12, respectively, adapted to fit over the'upper end of the container whenthe handle is brought over to the position shown in Fig.

parts,.is cut away at 13. The handle is releasably held inits closed position in any suitable manner.

' Tofeed the tobacco plug tothe cutting blade after each-slice" of tobacco has been cut, I provide a non-rotatable follower 1 1 having a lateral projection threaded on the feed screw 3. It is obvious that as the cutting blade is rotatedv to cut a fresh slice of tobacco, the follower will be raised thus raising the tobacco plug towards the blade.

The feed screw 3 is journalled in the 01fset part 2 and the cutting blade 1 is adjustable relative to the upper edges of the container 1 in the following manner. On the lower and upper ends of the feed screw are formed journals which are rotatably mounted in holes formed in the bottom of the container, which extends laterally under the offset part, and the top 2 'of the ofl'set part respectively. These journals are formed by reducing the diameter of the feed screw' which also forms a pair of shoulders on the latter which face in the opposite direction, one of these shoulders being adapted to engage the bottom of the container and the other being adapted to engage the top of the offset part to prevent longitudinal movement of the feed screw relative to the container. The upper journal 3 of the feed screw extends beyond the top of the offset part 2 and the blade 4 is threaded on this extension. A lock nut is also threaded on the part 3 whereby the cutting blade may be looked after any desired adjustment of the blade, relative to the upper edges of the container, has been made.

Assuming a plug of tobacco is in the holder and the cover 9 is closed the device is used by releasing the cover and swinging it over until it is about on the same level as the cutting blade 4 so that the cover now forms a handle for the blade. After the desired number of tobacco slices have been cut the blade is rotated until the pivot 10 lies between the sides of the container and the handle 9 is then swung over the container to form a cover for the latter. To insert a fresh plug of tobacco in the container, the blade i'is rotated backwardly to lower the followeril tothe bottom of the con tainer.

What I claim as my invention is 1. In a tobacco holder and cutter; a container havin an oblong open end; a feed screw journa led longitudinally of the container substantially midway of one of the longer sides of said open end; a follower threaded on the feed screw; and a convex cutting blade carried by the feed screw adapted to co-operate with the edges 'of the open end of the container to form a shear.

2. In a tobacco holder and cutter; a container having an oblong open end; a feed screw journalled longitudinally of the container substantially midway of one of the longer sides of said open end; a follower threaded on the feedscrew; and a cutting blade carried by the feed screw having a knife edge formed with two substantially straight edges lying at an angle to one another, the contained angle forming a projection adapted to start the cut.

3. In a tobacco holder and cutter; an open mouthed container; a cutting blade journalled on the container; and a handle pivotally connected with the cutting blade and adapted to be swung on its pivot to form a cover for the container, the handle being provided with sides and an end adapted to fit over the mouth of the container and releasably engage the latter.

4:. In a tobacco holder and cutter an open mouthed container; a feed screw journalled at one side of the container and substantially midway between the ends of the latter; a follower threaded on the feed screw; and a cutting blade adjustable on the feed screw to and from the edges of the mouth of the; container and adapted to co-operate therewith to form a shear.

Signed at Toronto, Canada, this 18 day of August 1922.

FREDERICK A. H. LONGWORTH. 

